Yasuo Sumi
Born: Osaka, 1925. Died: 2015
Period of Membership in GUTAI : 1955-1972
Sumi graduated from Kansai and Ritsumeikan universities. While working as a teacher at Toyosaki Junior High School in Osaka, on the recommendation of his colleague Shozo Shimamoto, he exhibited at the 1954 7th Ashiya City Exhibition, where he met Jiro Yoshihara. The following year, he became a member of Gutai, remaining until their disbanding. He has exhibited at all Gutai exhibitions, from the 1st up to the 21st.
In the Gutai journal, he proclaimed that, “There is no such thing as dirty art“.In his early Gutai exhibitions, he released many powerful and violent works in which old cloth was pasted onto wire mesh and enamel paint was applied from above, and the materials collided with each other. He later released tableaus created using an abacus, a comb, and a vibrator. During production, he would devote himself to unconsciousness, and painted using tools other than paintbrushes which made it difficult to reveal the artist’s consciousness and intent.
